ryan. i'm frank summerville. >> and i'm julie hanker. >> residents lined up to cast their votes but thousands have voted with mailin ballots. >> lines in other parts of the country such as ohio and florida have been long. in some cases stretching around buildings. we have coverage throughout the bay area. right now we will start with the race for the white house. rita williams is in boston but we begin with ken prichard in chicago with the obama campaign. ken. >> reporter: just within the past half hour some of the thousands of president obama supporters have been allowed in this large event venu. many received tickets because they are chicago residents and live in this area and who agreed to travel and hit the road and go to the neighboring battleground states of wisconsin and campaign for the president there in the last few days. the president wants to thank them. there are many states that are intense. pennsylvania, the romney campaign is focused on that the obama campaign is not truly a